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Born in Spencerport, New York, Katherine's passion for ballet began at age three, inspired by her mother, a dancer with the Lake Erie Ballet for many years.

Education:
Katherine studied at Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School (RWB) for four years under the tutelage of Ms. Johanne Gingras, Teacher Training Program Director and Ms. Arlene Minkhorst, School Director, Professional Division. While studying at RWB, Katherine also had the honor of training with several world renowned dancers and ballet instructors such as Glen Gilmour of The National Ballet of Canada and Suzanne Plante of The Royal Ballet in London.

Katherine graduated from Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School (RWB) with professional certification in the Cecchetti Method and Vaganova System of ballet technique and training.

While teaching in Maryland, Katherine also benefitted from the tutelage of Ms. Misako Aoki-Oda at Misako Ballet (Columbia, MD).Professional Teaching Experience Katherine’s professional ballet teaching experience includes positions with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School (Winnipeg, Canada), Peoria Ballet (Peoria, IL), Flower CIty Ballet (Rochester, NY), Western New York Youth Ballet (Rochester, NY), and Ballet Theatre of Maryland (Annapolis, MD).

Katherine is one of the only ballet instructors in the greater Rochester area with professional certification in the Cecchetti Method and the Vaganova System of ballet technique and training, which she uses as the basis of all of her dance classes.

Choreography Experience:Katherine has also choreographed major portions of several professional ballet performances, most notably of a full-length adaptation of The Nutcracker and excerpts from The Sleeping Beauty for Ballet Prestige, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Western New York Youth Ballet. She also choreographed pieces performed at Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division’s “First Steps” Choreographic Competition.

Performances:
As a student, Katherine danced in various professional ballet
performances such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Le Corsaire,
Paquita, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Kara Heald, Ballet InstructorA dancer since the age of four and ballet instructor since the age of 18, Kara received her ballet training at Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester, New York.

As a former company member of Rochester City Ballet, Kara has danced professionally in numerous productions. Highlights of her performance portfolio include the Arabian princess in The Nutcracker, as well as multiple roles in Cinderella, Swan Lake, Little Red Riding Hood, and many more.

Anna-Marie Lee, Ballet Instructor

Anna-Marie has been active in dance since the age of four, and has danced major roles in numerous classical ballets, including the role of Sugar Plum Fairy in "The Nutcracker" during her junior and senior year of high school. The bulk of Anna-Marie's training is from the Midcoast Ballet in Newcastle, Maine, where she began assistant teaching at age 13, and later taught her own ballet and tap classes.

Anna-Marie earned her B.S. in American Sign Language Interpreting from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY and has a special interest in teaching ballet students who are deaf and hearing impaired. Anna began dancing at Ballet Prestige in the fall of 2013, for which she recently performed various roles in "The Nutcracker" and "Swan Lake."

Julianne Deming, Ballet Instructor

Julianne received her early ballet schooling under the tutelage of Janet Reed of the New York City Ballet. She was a Trainee at Harkness House in New York City, studying under Anne Hebard, David Howard, and Maria Vegh, and has performed with the New York City Ballet, Hartford Ballet, and New Windsor Ballet.

Julianne is a founding member of Draper Dancer Theater, currently known as Rochester City Ballet, where she danced as a soloist and also served as Assistant Director to Mr. Draper in the company's formative years. Many of her former students have gone on to enjoy successful careers in national and international dance companies. Julianne also currently works alongside her husband at Deming Antiques and Art.